Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Player Cui Yiming captures Ganhua City and becomes the first player feudal lord. The system rewards him with two cultivation levels and announces his achievement worldwide, instantly making him famous.
• The announcement sparks excitement among players, who realize that capturing a city might bring fame and prestige. It also frustrates Wang Renbin, who regrets that the Wang Family did not act first and orders them to prioritize taking a city while investigating Cui Yiming.
• Cui Yiming celebrates his newfound status, but his victory is short-lived. Ganhua City’s garrison attacks the city lord’s residence, where Cui and his companions are holding out.
• Cui displays his City Lord Token and calls on the soldiers to surrender. Instead, their commanders portray him as a rebel who murdered their former lord, rallying the garrison to fight harder.
• The garrison breaks into the residence and kills Cui. A second, blood-red world announcement declares that he has lost his feudal-lord status and warns other players against repeating his mistake.
• Players mock Cui’s quick defeat, then watch footage of the capture. Many abandon plans to seize cities through similar decapitation strikes, treating his failure as a warning.

Character developments

• Cui Yiming (the city-taking player) moves from delight and confidence to shock as the garrison refuses to submit; his success proves temporary.
• The other Cui Yiming, an ordinary player with the same real-world name, is briefly mistaken for the famous player and killed after the announcement distracts him. He recognizes the awkward burden of sharing the name.
• Wang Renbin regrets missing the chance to claim the first announcement for the Wang Family and shifts to an urgent, pragmatic plan.
• The garrison’s commanders demonstrate loyalty to the former lord and Great Zhao, successfully turning the soldiers’ wavering morale into fury.

Themes and character interactions

• Fame and ambition: The announcement motivates players and factions to pursue city capture for recognition as well as power.
• The danger of overconfidence: Cui assumes the garrison will surrender after its leader is killed, but misunderstands its loyalty and the political meaning of his actions.
• Reputation versus reality: Cui’s brief worldwide fame is immediately followed by public humiliation and defeat.
• Shared identity and chance: Two players named Cui Yiming experience radically different fates, exposing the consequences of a fixed-name system.
• Interactions: Cui attempts to negotiate with the garrison by asserting his authority and offering pardon; the commanders reject his claim, accuse him of rebellion, and rally their troops to attack.

Chapter summary

• The Origin Sect becomes concerned about the Endless Mountains. While Qin Shujian is away, Grand Elder Zheng Fang oversees the sect. Niu Feng reports that demonic beasts have become unusually numerous, and Zheng suspects the Demon Race is preparing an attack on Liangshan Spirit Domain. Niu proposes striking first, but Xu Yuanming warns that the Demon Race could be lying in wait. The leaders decide to hold their position and respond if a beast tide actually forms.
• Song Qing hunts in the mountains. Seeking to reach the ninth layer of the True Martial Realm, the player Song Qing kills demonic beasts and gathers experience and beast cores. He has little interest in competing to become a regional lord, believing that personal strength matters more than political power—and that the Human Emperor’s authority ultimately came from his overwhelming strength.
• His hunt reveals a growing danger. Song Qing encounters six True Martial Realm beasts in only half a day, far more than usual. Rather than welcoming the easy experience, he recognizes that their increased numbers may signal an approaching beast tide. He grows cautious, knowing that a Sky-Soaring or stronger opponent could kill him.
• The chapter ends on a threat. After a huge flying demonic beast passes overhead, Song Qing spots a vast host of beasts advancing toward him.

Character developments and interactions

• Zheng Fang acts cautiously and responsibly, weighing the sect’s strength against the Demon Race’s deeper resources.
• Niu Feng favors an aggressive preemptive strike, based on the success of an earlier expedition.
• Xu Yuanming counters that proposal, arguing for restraint to avoid an ambush.
• Song Qing shows ambition as a hunter but also sound judgment: he rejects the risks of regional-lord competition and recognizes that the unusual beast activity is a warning, not an opportunity.

Significant themes

• Caution versus boldness: The sect leaders disagree over whether to strike first or wait, ultimately choosing prudence.
• Power and authority: Song Qing sees personal strength—not titles or political structures—as the foundation of true rule.
• Warning signs and looming danger: The surge in demonic beasts suggests that a larger assault may be imminent, foreshadowed by the approaching horde.

Key plot points and events

• A massive beast tide surges out of the Endless Mountains, forcing players and local residents to flee. The beasts include powerful spirit-martial and sky-soaring creatures.
• The Origin Sect mobilizes to defend the Liangshan Territory and Rubble Forest. When beasts try to cross the boundary, a thunderous barrier kills them.
• Xiang Haoqian identifies the barrier as the Sect Master’s Demon-Slaying Array Pattern, a composite array that combines multiple patterns into one. He warns that it may eventually be overwhelmed if the tide consumes energy faster than the array can replenish it.
• Xiang Haoqian leads Array Hall members in setting up additional defensive arrays along the boundary, where the beasts will have to pass.
• Deep inside the mountains, a powerful Silver Giant Wolf recognizes the array and links it to the Array Dao Grandmaster who killed the Black Nether Envoy. The wolf uses a jade talisman to summon a giant-wolf phantom, which gathers spiritual energy and strikes the Demon-Slaying Array Pattern.

Character developments

• Xiang Haoqian demonstrates his expertise by recognizing and assessing the composite array. He quickly shifts from analysis to organizing a practical defense.
• The Silver Giant Wolf emerges as a strategic, formidable enemy who understands the barrier’s threat and can command or influence even powerful beasts.
• The Sect Master is absent but shown to be far-sighted: the defensive array he prepared has prevented the initial tide from devastating the sect’s territory.

Character interactions

• Xu Yuanming asks Xiang Haoqian whether the array can hold. Xiang Haoqian explains its strength and limits, then directs the Array Hall members to reinforce the defenses.
• The Silver Giant Wolf’s roar forces the charging beasts to halt, while divine-martial beasts respond with awe. He then launches a coordinated attack against the barrier.

Significant themes

• Preparation and leadership: The Sect Master’s foresight and Xiang Haoqian’s rapid response reduce the danger of the beast tide.
• Power and its limits: Even an extraordinary array depends on available energy and may be worn down by overwhelming numbers.
• Escalating conflict: The tide is not merely a natural disaster; a powerful intelligence is directing events and actively targeting the sect’s defenses.

This is an author’s end-of-month appeal for readers to use their monthly votes if they’ve enjoyed the updates. The author thanks readers, notes that their daily output is about 12,000 characters despite not ranking first in updates, and says they’ll try to post extra chapters in a mass release on the first.

• Key events: The author requests monthly votes and promises to attempt an additional release at the start of the next month.
• Character development: None; this is a direct message from the author rather than a story chapter.
• Themes: Reader support, appreciation, and the effort behind consistent updates.
• Interactions: The author addresses readers directly, thanking them and encouraging them to vote.

Key plot points and events

• The Demon-Slaying array’s inscription is struck by lightning and destroyed. The attack also badly wounds the giant silver wolf, though its demonic vitality begins healing it; recurring lightning in the wound repeatedly reopens it.
• With the inscription gone, demonic beasts charge into Liangshan Territory. Xiang Haoqian’s prepared arrays hold them back briefly, killing several hundred, but the beasts soon break through.
• Niu Feng leads the Origin Sect into battle. Shi Jianfeng demonstrates his exceptional mastery of Gods and Ghosts Seven-Kill Reverse Star Dipper, killing a Sky-Soaring Realm beast with a single attack and drawing attention from players who had previously overlooked him.
• As the battle intensifies, Qin Shujian receives system notifications of deaths among Origin Sect deacons and realizes the sect is in danger. He tells Su Mingyang he has a strong premonition that something has happened.
• At the city lord’s residence, Ming Jingshan reveals that the Marquises of Southwind and Falling Moon have rebelled and are marching on the Imperial City. Yan Caizhe announces that the army must withdraw from its campaign against Gu Changqing to defend the capital, despite the cost of abandoning their near-victory.
• With the withdrawal decided, Qin Shujian says his work is finished and prepares to return to the Origin Sect.

Character developments and interactions

• Shi Jianfeng emerges as a formidable fighter. His low-key reputation gives way to admiration as others witness his ability and begin hoping to become his disciples.
• Qin Shujian shifts from secluded cultivation to urgent concern for his sect, while keeping the system notifications secret and presenting his warning as a premonition. He and Su Mingyang share concern about the sect’s fate.
• Yan Caizhe prioritizes the Imperial City and the court’s order over continuing the campaign. Though reluctant, he insists that the army obey the imperial decree. Wu Tai and Ke Yucheng accept his reasoning, while some generals resent the retreat.
• Niu Feng takes the initiative in the defense, leading Origin Sect members directly into combat.

Significant themes

• Duty versus immediate goals: The army must abandon its campaign against Gu Changqing to protect the capital and the legitimacy of the dynasty.
• The cost and uncertainty of war: Defensive arrays and powerful fighters can inflict heavy losses, but cannot prevent casualties or guarantee safety.
• Hidden strength and recognition: Shi Jianfeng’s skill is revealed through action, changing how others value him.
• Overlapping crises: The sect’s beast-tide battle unfolds alongside political rebellion, leaving Qin Shujian pulled between obligations to his sect and the wider state.

Key plot points and events

• Qin Shujian accepts Yan Caizhe’s farewell without pressing for the unpaid portion of his fee. He considers the trip worthwhile because he received three high-grade Spirit Weapon–quality spirit objects.
• He travels through a Teleportation Gate to the Liangshan Spirit Domain, accompanied by Su Mingyang. Across Northcloud Prefecture, a massive beast tide from the Endless Mountains has overwhelmed sects and killed or injured countless people.
• Qin arrives in Ancient-Suppressing City and finds it under attack. Its defensive array is holding, but demonic beasts are battering the walls and trying to climb over them.
• On the wall, Commander Song Ziming leads the defenders. They use boulders and specially prepared poison water to drive beasts away from the walls, but their supplies soon run out and the assault intensifies.
• Qin appears amid the fighting. Song recognizes him as the Origin Sect’s master and urgently asks him to save the city.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Shujian shows little interest in pursuing payment and prioritizes the crisis in his own territory. Seeing the scale of the invasion, he realizes the beast tide is far more extensive than he had anticipated.
• Song Ziming fights bravely despite being only at the Outer Astral Realm, a level that is no longer exceptional in the newly advanced spirit domain. He adapts the city’s defenses and, recognizing Qin, appeals directly for help.
• Qin and Song have only a brief exchange: Qin confirms his identity, while Song’s initial uncertainty quickly turns into hope and a request for aid.
• Yan Caizhe and Qin part amicably; Yan does not ask Qin to take on another task, and Qin does not press the Imperial Court over the remaining payment.

Significant themes

• The scale of catastrophe: The beast tide threatens not just one city but the whole prefecture and potentially the wider realm.
• Responsibility and territory: Qin turns toward Ancient-Suppressing City because it lies within the Liangshan Spirit Domain, which he regards as his domain.
• Strength and changing circumstances: The spirit domain’s advancement has made formerly elite cultivators like Song comparatively ordinary, underscoring how quickly the balance of power has shifted.
• Courage under pressure: The defenders continue fighting with dwindling resources as the walls and their protections begin to fail.

Plot points and events

• Qin Shujian arrives to help Ancient-Suppressing City repel a massive beast tide, reassuring Song Ziming that he will intervene.
• He immediately kills a flying demonic beast with a single palm strike, then unleashes the Heaven and Earth Bow and Cloud-Piercing Arrow. He promises the bow a chance to advance to a Two-Mark Dao Artifact if it kills enough beasts, motivating it to attack relentlessly.
• Qin’s autonomous saber, Thousand Mountain Blood, also joins the defense, cutting down waves of beasts. The defenders and players on the wall are heartened by the reinforcements; players recognize Qin as the famed Liangshan Stronghold Chief.
• A colossal six-armed demonic beast breaks through the spirit domain’s restrictions and reaches the Divine Martial Realm. Qin welcomes the challenge and fights it directly with the Great Wilderness Demon-Suppressing Seal, exchanging powerful blows.
• Qin gradually gains the upper hand through his superior foundations and varied strengths. When a Divine Martial Realm Three-Headed Azure-Feather Kite appears, he calls Thousand Mountain Blood back and channels his power into it, ending the chapter as he brings the saber down on the six-armed beast.

Character developments

• Qin Shujian rediscovers his appetite for direct combat after relying heavily on arrays for a long time. The powerful enemy rekindles his fighting spirit and gives him a chance to test his abilities in a head-on battle.
• The Heaven and Earth Bow reveals its eagerness to fight and advance, responding enthusiastically to Qin’s promise.
• The defenders and players shift from anxiety to confidence when Qin and his artifacts begin dismantling the beast tide.

Significant themes

• Strength and responsibility: Qin uses his overwhelming power to protect the city rather than stand aside.
• Renewal through challenge: Facing a formidable opponent revives Qin’s long-dormant desire to fight.
• Preparation and diverse abilities: Qin’s strength comes from the combined advantages of his cultivation, physical body, spirit god, techniques, and artifacts—not from any single power alone.
• Hope amid danger: The arrival of powerful reinforcements changes the defenders’ expectations, even as new threats emerge.

Character interactions

• Song Ziming appeals to Qin’s reputation and trusts him to resolve the crisis; Qin reassures him.
• Qin motivates the Heaven and Earth Bow with the prospect of advancement, and it eagerly attacks the horde.
• Qin orders Thousand Mountain Blood to defend the wall, then summons it back when he needs to concentrate his power against the Divine Martial Realm enemies.
• The players recognize Qin with admiration, while the city’s defenders watch his intervention with renewed hope.

Key plot points and events

• Qin Shujian kills the Six-Armed Beast with his Dao Artifact, Thousand Mountain Blood, then traps and consumes the Three-Headed Azure-Feather Kite with a formation.
• He uses formations and Wisdom King Karmic Fire to annihilate vast numbers of beasts. Absorbing the resulting fire lotuses yields about twice the Life Source of ordinary kills and strengthens his Spirit God.
• Onlookers at Ancient-Suppressing City’s eastern wall—including City Lord Huo Anbang—witness his power and recognize him as the Origin Sect’s Array Dao Grandmaster.
• Qin expands the formation to encompass the rest of the beast tide. Three Dao Artifacts reinforce the array as Karmic Fire and saber energy destroy the remaining beasts.
• He suspects the Demon Race is behind the beasts’ unusual departure from the Endless Mountains, and fears the tide may be the beginning of a larger threat.
• After gathering and compressing tens of thousands of fire lotuses, Qin absorbs their energy. His Spirit God grows from thirty-two to thirty-seven zhang, but the rapid growth threatens to separate it from his physical body.

Character developments

• Qin Shujian demonstrates overwhelming combat and formation prowess, while discovering a powerful way to accelerate his growth. His triumph is tempered by concern about the Demon Race and the danger of his Spirit God outgrowing his body.
• Song Ziming is awed by Qin’s ability to erase thousands of beasts almost instantly.
• Huo Anbang and the other experts move from confusion to astonishment when they identify Qin and witness his strength.

Significant themes

• Power and growth: Qin’s ability to turn defeated enemies into fuel brings rapid advancement, but that growth carries physical and spiritual risks.
• Hidden threats: The beast tide suggests the Demon Race is acting beyond the immediate battlefield, foreshadowing broader conflict.
• Retaliation and survival: Qin sees the beasts as food just as they treat humans as prey, framing the battle as a brutal struggle between species.
• Strength and vulnerability: Even overwhelming power cannot eliminate every danger—Qin’s own advancement may destabilize him.

Character interactions

• Qin fights and consumes the beasts largely alone, while the city’s defenders watch from the walls.
• Song Ziming reports Qin’s identity to Huo Anbang; Huo and the accompanying experts react with respect and disbelief.
• Qin’s relationship with the defenders is mostly observed rather than personal: his actions provide them relief, while also making clear the scale of power they cannot match.

Plot points and events

• Qin Shujian destroys the demonic beasts attacking Ancient-Suppressing City’s eastern wall, breaking their grand formation and preventing the wall from falling.
• City Lord Huo Anbang and the defenders thank him. His powerful divine sense intimidates even high-ranking cultivators, revealing strength beyond what they expected of a Manifestation Realm expert.
• Though Huo offers to host a banquet, Qin refuses to stop while the beast tide remains. He clears the beasts at the other three walls as well, using his grand formation and the Heaven and Earth Bow.
• Players hunting a wounded Spirit God Realm beast watch Qin’s bow kill it—and then see him eliminate the remaining hordes, inadvertently stealing many players’ kills. They are impressed and envious of his monster-clearing abilities.
• With his spirit god at its current limit, Qin changes tactics: he stops using the Wisdom King Karmic Fire, gaining less life source but leaving corpses from which he can collect Beast Cores.
• After clearing the city, he leaves immediately for the Teleportation Gate, despite Huo’s attempt to invite him to stay.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin is shown as both exceptionally powerful and determined to keep fighting until the danger is gone. In reality, he is also motivated by the life source he can gain from killing beasts.
• Huo Anbang and the defenders develop deep respect for Qin, interpreting his actions as selfless. Huo is unable to persuade him to accept a banquet.
• The players shift from frustration at having their kills stolen to awe at Qin’s power, joking that an Array Dao Grandmaster is a “monster-killing, leveling machine.”
• Song Ziming suggests Qin is hurrying back because the Origin Sect is also under attack. Huo praises Qin for helping their city before returning to his own.

Significant themes

• Duty and gratitude: Qin prioritizes finishing the rescue, while the city’s leaders recognize the danger he has averted.
• Appearance versus motive: Others see Qin’s actions as altruistic, but he is chiefly eager to collect life source and strengthen himself.
• Power and its costs: Qin’s spirit god reaches its present limit, forcing him to adjust how he kills beasts and what rewards he can obtain.
• Different perspectives on the same event: The defenders see a heroic savior, while players see an overwhelmingly efficient hunter who deprives them of kills.

Plot points and events

• Qin Shujian returns to Liangshan City as a massive demon-beast tide attacks. The city is holding out behind the grandmaster-level protective array he created.
• Zhang Ergou reports that the Origin Sect evacuated residents from Liangshan, the Rubble Forest, and the Xining Plains before the beasts overwhelmed the defenses. Qin praises the response and says he will handle the attack himself.
• Qin summons Thousand Mountain Blood and activates a hidden grand formation linked to eight stone saber statues across the Origin Sect’s territories. Golden beams and a vast mesh of array patterns enclose Liangshan Territory, the Rubble Forest, the Lion-Tiger Plains, and the Xining Plains.
• Qin orders Niu Dali to gather every demon beast of the Demon Branch near the Bull Demon Cave’s statue within half an hour. Niu Dali relays the command, and the beasts rush to assemble.
• From the formation’s center, Qin invokes “Heavenfall.” The pressure forces every flying demon beast down from the sky, including powerful ones, though the beasts survive their falls.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Shujian returns with calm authority, reassures the city’s defenders, and reveals the scale of his preparations by activating a formation unknown even to most members of his sect.
• Zhang Ergou delivers a clear account of the crisis and displays loyalty and excitement at Qin’s return. Qin approves of the evacuation and defense effort.
• Niu Dali responds immediately to Qin’s mind-voice command and mobilizes the Demon Branch, showing his role as its leader.
• Zheng Fang is recognized by Qin as having managed the evacuations well. Sect members and residents alike recognize Qin’s return through the appearance of his saber.

Significant themes

• Leadership and preparedness: The Origin Sect’s evacuation, layered defenses, and hidden formation reflect planning as well as strength.
• Power and awe: Qin’s ability to command a vast regional formation makes him seem almost divine, while even elite cultivators fear its power.
• Unity across factions and territory: The array links sect branches, city, and demon territory, drawing humans and demon beasts into a shared defensive structure.
• The limits of knowledge: Even skilled array masters cannot understand the formation, underscoring how far Qin’s expertise surpasses theirs.

Key plot points and events

• Qin Shujian uses the grand formation to bring down the flying demonic beasts, then triggers Earthsplit, collapsing mountains and opening the ground to bury many more.
• Exhausted by the formation’s demands, he spends nearly forty million Life Source to advance his six remaining cultivation manuals. His true essence is restored and greatly increased, while his spirit god grows to forty-one zhang.
• Qin activates Demon-Slaying. Golden rain falls across the formation, killing the demonic beasts almost instantly. Protective barriers around settlements and the Lion-Tiger Plains keep those inside safe.
• The massacre brings Qin’s Life Source above ninety million and close to a hundred million. The eight statues and their barriers then lose power and fade.
• Once the danger passes, Qin orders Origin Sect disciples to collect beast cores and other resources. The rain has broken many cores, however, and the remaining corpses disappear when the world refreshes.
• The formation has permanently reshaped the surrounding landscape. Xiang Haoqian recognizes the feat as proof of what a true Array Dao Grandmaster can accomplish.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Shujian demonstrates immense power and composure, sacrificing Life Source to overcome the formation’s strain and turning a dire battle into a major gain.
• Niu Dali, safely behind the Lion-Tiger Plains’ barrier, is awestruck by the destruction. He calls it “fucking awesome,” then worries about the barrier and concludes that a nap can wait until after cultivation.
• The Origin Sect disciples recover from their shock and obey Qin’s order, searching through the remains for resources. Their reactions range from nausea to seasoned amazement.
• Liu Dazhong finds pieces of a beast core, but discards them once he realizes the core is broken and therefore useless.
• Xiang Haoqian admires Qin’s array skill while reflecting on how far he himself still has to go.

Significant themes

• Power and sacrifice: Qin spends a huge reserve of Life Source to strengthen himself enough to control the formation.
• The awe and danger of mastery: The array does more than defeat an army; it kills indiscriminately outside protected zones and transforms the land.
• Uneven rewards of victory: The slaughter yields Qin vast Life Source, but the formation’s destructive force ruins many beast cores before they can be collected.
• Humor amid catastrophe: Niu Dali’s blunt phrasing and casual return to sleep contrast with the devastation around him.

Chapter summary

• After returning to the Origin Sect, Qin Shujian convenes its senior leaders to discuss the Beast Tide. The eight stone statues worshipped across the sect’s territories turn out to be cores of a powerful formation: the Demon-Slaying Array Pattern. Qin’s formation wiped out the enormous horde—estimated at more than 200,000 beasts—but the sect still suffered heavy casualties: 973 disciples and 53 deacons died, including 78 Spirit God Realm cultivators.
• The leaders report that a phantom of a towering wolf, apparently a Heavenly Being’s attack, shattered the array. Qin concludes that the Demon Race was likely behind it.
• The Beast Tide passed through the Lion-Tiger Plains without attacking. Niu Dali can offer no explanation beyond the beasts recognizing him as one of their own. Qin accepts that explanation, trusting Niu Dali’s loyalty, while the other elders remain skeptical. Qin also notices that Niu Dali has advanced rapidly to the Spirit Martial Fourth Layer, or Sky-Soaring Realm, and privately suspects he has encountered an unusual opportunity.
• Xiang Haoqian warns that Beast Tides have struck other regions too and may signal the Demon Race’s return and a renewed struggle with humanity. He explains that demonic beasts are offspring of demons and ordinary beasts, combining demonic cultivation talent with limited intelligence. Their population may rival or exceed humanity’s, and the Imperial Court regularly sends forces into the Endless Mountains to hunt them.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Shujian remains composed despite the losses, questions his elders carefully, and trusts Niu Dali rather than suspecting betrayal. He is also surprised by Niu Dali’s extraordinary progress.
• Niu Dali is sleepy and genuinely baffled about why the beasts spared his territory. His apparent indifference contrasts with the elders’ suspicions.
• Xiang Haoqian takes the role of informed adviser, connecting the Beast Tide to the Demon Race’s history and urging caution. His warnings unsettle the assembled leaders.

Significant themes

• The scale and cost of conflict: Even a victory that destroys a vast army comes at a painful human cost.
• An approaching existential threat: The Demon Race may be preparing to challenge humanity now that the Human Emperor is gone.
• Trust amid uncertainty: Qin’s confidence in Niu Dali contrasts with the elders’ doubts.
• Hidden power and preparation: The seemingly ordinary statues prove to be part of a formidable defense, suggesting the value of planning and concealed strength.

Plot points

• Hall Master Xiang Haoqian explains that the Imperial Court’s regular hunts are meant to control demonic-beast numbers in the Endless Mountains. He also warns that the Demon Race may still have a Demon Emperor and twelve Heavenly Human Realm Demon Sages, making them a serious potential threat to the nearby Origin Sect.
• Qin Shujian reassures the sect, pointing to his formation’s recent destruction of a beast horde. Xiang notes that demonic beasts’ lack of intelligence makes them especially vulnerable to an Array Dao Grandmaster, unlike the intelligent Demon Race.
• Qin announces sweeping new rules: disciples and many staff members must complete regular demonic-beast hunts or face contribution-point penalties and eventual demotion. He also sets monthly contribution allowances, offers access to elders’ guidance and his lectures for a price, and requires alchemists and forgemasters to meet production targets instead of—or alongside—combat assessments.
• The rules shock the sect, especially deacons and Outer Sect Elders who had grown accustomed to collecting benefits without assessments. Qin intends the reforms to strengthen the sect, identify capable members, and increase the life source he gains from their activity.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin presents himself as calm about the Demon Race, knowing the sect looks to him for confidence even though he is uneasy himself.
• Xiang Haoqian provides a sober assessment of the threat, then reinforces Qin’s authority by emphasizing how effectively formations counter demonic beasts.
• Shen Yuqing agrees to have the Forging Hall produce Recording Jade Pendants to verify disciples’ hunts. Qin also orders Elder Xu to work with the Chengyun Trading Company to acquire spirit stones and companion jade, at any price.
• Qin’s leadership shifts from establishing the sect to enforcing performance and accountability. He rejects loyalty alone as sufficient: members must contribute through their work and strength.

Significant themes

• Preparedness and insecurity: The Demon Race’s possible return looms over the sect, while Qin must project confidence despite the danger.
• Merit and accountability: Benefits and rank are tied to measurable effort; repeated failure brings penalties and demotion.
• Pragmatism in leadership: Qin aims both to make the Origin Sect stronger and to increase his own life-source gains.
• Support roles matter: Alchemists and forgemasters receive alternative professional targets and additional rewards, recognizing their value beyond combat.

Key plot points and events

• Elders and deacons protest new sect rules that require members to contribute rather than rely on the Origin Sect’s support. Qin Shujian summons all who challenged the decision to the Martial Arts Arena.
• Li Yongchang speaks for the protesters, arguing that veterans who helped build the Liangshan Stronghold and Origin Sect deserve better treatment. He urges Qin to revoke the rules.
• Qin rejects the appeal: past service has already been rewarded, and the sect’s progress belongs to all its members—not only its elders. He calls the protesters “rotten apples” and expels them.
• Their cultivation immediately collapses from high realms to Martial Entry Third Layer, revealing how much of their strength came from the sect’s advancement rather than their own effort. Qin orders them to leave within a day. Most beg for mercy, while some blame Li.
• Watching members realize that losing the Origin Sect would leave them powerless, and their loyalty to Qin rises.

Character developments

• Qin Shujian remains firm and decisive. Though he says he knows where to draw the line, he enforces the rules without hesitation when challenged.
• Li Yongchang, once an ordinary man raised to elder status through the sect’s rise, has become arrogant and resistant to advice. His protest exposes both his sense of entitlement and his dependence on the sect.
• Zheng Fang regrets Li’s decline and recognizes that he can no longer reason with him.
• The onlookers shift from debating the rules to understanding their practical value and the danger of taking the sect’s support for granted.

Significant themes

• Merit versus past loyalty: Earlier service matters, but it does not entitle members to permanent support.
• Dependence and self-reliance: The expelled elders’ loss of power reveals that their apparent strength rested largely on the sect.
• Authority and accountability: Qin insists that no group, however influential, can place itself above the sect’s rules.
• A changing institution: The Origin Sect is moving away from supporting free riders and toward rewarding active contribution.

Character interactions

• Zheng Fang warns Qin about the brewing protest, but Qin directs him to gather everyone involved.
• Li invokes the veterans’ sacrifices before the assembled sect; Qin counters that all disciples contributed and that the sect has already repaid the veterans.
• The protesters’ pleas for forgiveness—and attempts to shift blame—contrast with Qin’s uncompromising decision.

Key events

• Qin Shujian expels Li Yongchang and his companions from the Origin Sect after they resist new rules. They had relied on the sect’s rapid advancement for their cultivation rather than contributing or training themselves; expulsion strips away the benefits they gained from the sect’s fortune.
• The new rules require disciples, deacons, and elders to hunt demonic beasts in the Endless Mountains and prove their work with Recording Jade Pendants. Members respond by training more and making greater use of the Library Pavilion and the sect’s halls.
• The Forging Hall faces heavy demand for tens of thousands of Recording Jade Pendants. Hall Master Shen Yuqing is exhausted but pleased, since sales and exchanges earn him a share of the profits.
• Qin’s life source reaches 100 million points, unlocking a function that lets him trade fortune value for life source at a rate of one fortune point to 100,000 life source.
• After considering the relative value of strengthening himself versus upgrading Dao artifacts, Qin decides that accumulating fortune value and improving his own cultivation are the better long-term priorities. He resolves to travel farther, break Evil Fiend seals, and hunt them for fortune value.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Shujian acts decisively to curb dependency within the sect. His expulsion of the dissenters establishes that the sect’s rules—and his authority—are not open to challenge. His new exchange function also sharpens his focus on long-term power and the opportunities created by the empire’s disorder.
• Li Yongchang and his companions lose their sect-given cultivation after expulsion, exposing how little of their strength came from personal effort.
• Xiang Haoqian and the other experienced members understand the consequences of losing a sect’s blessings and recognize why Qin’s decision is final.
• Shen Yuqing benefits from the sudden workload and remains cheerful despite the strain.

Significant themes

• Earned strength versus borrowed power: Cultivation gained through a sect’s fortune can be withdrawn, while personally cultivated strength remains one’s own.
• Responsibility and institutional discipline: The new rules push members to contribute and prepare for increasingly difficult duties.
• Personal power versus external tools: Qin judges that cultivating himself offers more lasting potential than investing heavily in powerful artifacts.
• Crisis as opportunity: With Great Zhao in chaos and the Human Emperor dead, Qin sees fewer political constraints on pursuing fortune value—even as dangers such as the beast tide continue to spread.

Plot points and events

• Qin Shujian decides that pursuing control of the world is premature. With the Human Emperor dead and the Demon Race a looming threat, he focuses on strengthening himself and gathering life source.
• He has more than 100 million life source but cannot yet advance the Forging Ancestral Canon, concluding that its next stage probably requires far more. Instead, he spends 50 million to extrapolate the ninth level of the Origin Return Ancestral Canon’s Spirit Martial Volume.
• Keeping an earlier promise, Qin uses 100 fortune points to advance the Heaven and Earth Bow into a two-mark Dao artifact. The spectacle attracts attention in Liangshan City, where Forge Masters assume he is responsible.
• A massive demonic-beast tide devastates Northcloud Prefecture over more than half a month. Many people, sects, and cities are lost before the prefecture’s forces finally suppress it.
• The Marquis of Northcloud, Xiao Chengfeng, ventures into the Endless Mountains and kills the Five-Elements Venerable, a Heavenly Human Realm greater demon. Its enormous head is displayed outside Zongyang City, which the Marquis’s presence had protected from the tide.
• In the Heavenly Demon Palace, the Twelve Demon Sages discuss Xiao Chengfeng’s strength and the possibility of leaving their post now that the Human Emperor is dead. They decide to wait and observe, while allowing other demons’ attacks on Great Zhao to test the situation.
• The Marquis orders his officials to address the devastation and investigate unrest by Otherworlders. He demands severe punishment for rebellion.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Shujian is cautious and pragmatic: rather than pursue power over the world, he prioritizes survival, cultivation, and preparing for a possible Demon Race invasion. He also honors his promise to the Heaven and Earth Bow.
• Xiao Chengfeng is shown as exceptionally powerful and politically responsible. Though praised for his victory, he focuses on helping civilians and restoring order rather than basking in his fame.
• The Demon Sages reveal differing attitudes: Sage Eagle accepts that the Five-Elements Venerable’s death followed from his own invasion, while the blue-clad Sage urges action against the Marquis. Sage Ze and the alluring female Sage favor caution and reconnaissance.
• The Marquis and his generals interact through reports and praise; he redirects their attention toward relief efforts and security.

Significant themes

• Power and survival in a changing era: With the Human Emperor gone, both humans and demons reassess the balance of power.
• Opportunity amid catastrophe: The turmoil offers Qin a chance to grow stronger, but the beast tide demonstrates its immense human cost.
• Responsibility of leadership: Xiao Chengfeng’s concern for victims contrasts with the military triumph celebrated by his subordinates.
• Caution versus aggression: The Demon Sages debate whether to exploit the new political vacuum immediately or wait for clearer signs.

Key plot points and events

• After the Human Emperor’s death, several prefectures rebel, and Southwind and Falling Moon march toward the Imperial City. Fu Bo urges the Marquis of Northcloud to rebel as well.
• The Marquis refuses and orders that any unrest in Northcloud be crushed. He believes the other marquises are acting cautiously, not recklessly, and that the Human Emperor may have left safeguards behind.
• He explains to Su Mingyang that Great Zhao’s strength did not come from the Human Emperor alone: its armies and cultivators fought the Demon Race, while the Emperor’s final defeat of the Demon Emperor broke its morale.
• Alone, the Marquis wonders whether the Human Emperor truly died and whether he might return through reincarnation. He decides that, until the situation becomes clearer, Northcloud should preserve its strength.
• The Marquis recalls his recent expedition into the Endless Mountains, where he killed a Heavenly Being greater demon. This has stopped demons from entering Northcloud for now, though he knows the act may put him on the Demon Race’s list of targets.
• A mysterious voice questions his decision to intervene. The Marquis says he acted to protect Northcloud’s people, whom his family has a duty to serve. The voice praises his concern for the people and says he could contend for the Human Emperor’s position; it also confirms that Human Emperors existed in ancient times.

Character developments and interactions

• The Marquis of Northcloud (Xiao Chengfeng) emerges as cautious, politically astute, and deeply protective of his people. He rejects opportunistic rebellion, recognizes the risks of revealing his power, and accepts those risks as part of his responsibility.
• Fu Bo voices the urge to exploit the Imperial Court’s weakness, but the Marquis firmly silences him.
• Su Mingyang initially shares Fu Bo’s shallow assessment of Great Zhao’s vulnerability. The Marquis’s explanation corrects his view and reflects the Marquis’s effort to educate and guide a trusted subordinate.
• The mysterious voice acts as a confidant and critic, challenging the Marquis’s choices while acknowledging his leadership and potential.

Significant themes

• Duty over ambition: The Marquis refuses to take advantage of national turmoil and prioritizes Northcloud’s stability.
• Collective strength and historical misunderstanding: The Human Emperor’s fame obscured the armies and cultivators who helped defeat the Demon Race.
• Uncertainty and restraint: With the Emperor’s fate and the empire’s future unclear, waiting and protecting one’s own domain is presented as the safest course.
• Leadership and reciprocity: The Xiao family’s authority carries an obligation to protect the people whose trust and support sustain it.
• Power and its costs: The Marquis’s strength deters immediate threats but may provoke a more carefully prepared attack.

Key plot points and events

• Si Wenlang leads nearly 100,000 players in a siege, offering ten Qi-Congealing Pills to whoever first reaches the city wall. The scarce and expensive reward drives the assault.
• The Si Family has chosen Thousand Mountains Prefecture because the Imperial Court is distracted by rebellion and Gu Changqing’s campaign. Unlike neighboring prefectures, it is not threatened by beast tides.
• Si Wenlang combines a siege with a planned decapitation strike. The strike throws the city into confusion and weakens its defenders, while players scale the walls.
• Once the gates open, the players pour into the city. Their relatively uniform cultivation—most are at the true martial realm—gives them a decisive advantage over the weaker Mortal Domain defenders.
• The city lord is killed, and Si Wenlang claims the City Lord Token. His announcement that the city has fallen prompts most surviving defenders to surrender.
• Si Wenlang begins securing the city with Si Family members, intending to retain control and use the surrendered soldiers to strengthen his forces. Across Thousand Mountains Prefecture, other player clans are similarly seizing Mortal Domain cities while the Imperial Court remains occupied.

Character developments

• Si Wenlang proves himself a calculating, ambitious leader. He uses money, incentives, timing, and a coordinated attack to capture the city, then focuses on consolidating power and building a dependable force.
• He sees the surrendered NPC soldiers as a long-term advantage: unlike unpredictable players, they can serve as loyal troops and help him gain experience.
• The defenders lose confidence once their lord dies and the city’s defeat becomes certain, choosing surrender over futile resistance.
• The players are motivated by both immediate rewards and the prospect of advancement through warlord rule.

Significant themes

• Power requires resources: Capturing a city demands substantial money, manpower, and careful planning.
• Opportunity amid crisis: Si Wenlang exploits the Imperial Court’s distraction and regional disorder to expand the Si Family’s influence.
• The value of reliable followers: Players may be strong but unpredictable; surrendered soldiers offer a more stable foundation for rule.
• Hope and surrender: The defenders keep fighting while victory seems possible, but abandon resistance once hope disappears.

Character interactions

• Si Wenlang rallies the players with the pill reward and later leads the reserve force through the opened gates.
• After taking the City Lord Token, he addresses the defenders, offering their lives in exchange for surrender; most comply.
• He entrusts control of the captured city to Si Family members rather than outside players, reflecting his caution about sharing power.

Plot points and events

• Qin Shujian spends a month cultivating the Origin Return Ancestral Canon without using Life Source to advance it directly. The Heaven and Earth Bow, now a Two-Mark Dao Artifact, draws in spiritual energy rapidly, helping enrich Liangshan’s spiritual veins alongside its Spirit-Gathering Formation and powerful cultivators.
• A message arrives through Qin’s Communication Jade. While checking his Storage Ring, he notices the golden hair given to him by the Heaven-Reaching Ape and recalls that it reacted during his battle in Thousand Mountains Prefecture.
• Suspecting the hair may have been used to track him—or could conceal another trick—Qin burns it with Wisdom King Karmic Fire rather than risk keeping it.
• The destruction alerts the Heaven-Reaching Ape, who realizes his tracking link has been severed. He speculates that Qin detected the hair’s purpose but decides not to pursue the matter. The ape’s immense natural longevity and ability to reach the Divine Martial Realm at maturity are also described.
• At the Martial Inheritance Hall, Imperial Court Steward Xiao Hong delivers the payment previously promised to Qin. Qin initially objects, since he failed to help eliminate the rebels, but Xiao explains that the Imperial Court considers the withdrawal beyond Qin’s control and intends to honor its commitment. Qin accepts.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Shujian remains cautious and deliberate: he prioritizes preserving Life Source, recognizes the danger of a possible tracking device, and destroys the hair instead of keeping it. He also shows a strong sense of responsibility by hesitating to accept payment after failing to fulfill his agreement.
• The Heaven-Reaching Ape is revealed to have planted the hair as a tracking method. Though surprised by its destruction, he recognizes Qin’s growing power and chooses to let the matter go.
• Xiao Hong acts as the Imperial Court’s courteous representative, reassuring Qin that the payment is still owed. Their exchange ends with Qin accepting it.

Significant themes

• Power and cultivation depend on environment: strong cultivators and artifacts enrich spiritual energy and spiritual veins, strengthening already powerful groups.
• Caution amid hidden dangers: Qin’s choice to destroy the hair reflects the risks of trusting powerful factions and their gifts.
• Honor and obligation: Qin’s reluctance to accept payment contrasts with the Imperial Court’s insistence on keeping its word.
• Natural talent and unequal potential: the Heaven-Reaching Ape Clan’s long lives and innate rise to the Divine Martial Realm illustrate the wide disparities among the Demon Race.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Qin Shujian accepts a Storage Ring from the Imperial Court, recognizing that the gifts—ten spirit stones and a thousand jin of companion jade—will help the cash-strapped Origin Sect.
• He asks Xiao Hong about the Marquis of Northcloud’s reported expedition into the Endless Mountains. Xiao confirms that the marquis killed a powerful Heavenly Being demon in retaliation for the Demon Race’s attacks and left its head outside Zongyang City.
• Qin proposes that the Origin Sect help the Imperial Court locate and eliminate evil fiends sealed across Northcloud Prefecture. Xiao agrees to report the offer, but warns that evil fiends in True Domains are far more dangerous than those in Mortal Domains; the sect’s lower-grade Dao artifacts may not be sufficient.
• After Xiao leaves, Qin inspects the Storage Ring and begins using its spirit stones and companion jade to inscribe powerful formations.
• His work creates a massive spiritual-energy vortex above the sect. Though it briefly drains Liangshan’s energy, spiritual energy soon floods back at an even higher concentration, accelerating cultivation throughout the Origin Sect. The conspicuous phenomenon prompts speculation, but no one dares intrude on Qin’s courtyard.
• After half a month of continuous work, Qin has spent dozens of expensive Soul-Nourishing Pills. The accumulated pill toxins make further use dangerous, so he pauses to purge them and restore his spiritual sense by absorbing spiritual energy.

Character developments

• Qin Shujian shows practical judgment, accepting Imperial support while also seeking a chance for the Origin Sect to take on greater responsibilities. He understands the risks of confronting True Domain evil fiends and works methodically to prepare for formidable opponents.
• Xiao Hong acts as a cautious intermediary: he conveys the marquis’s strength, takes Qin’s proposal seriously, and emphasizes the danger of underestimating True Domain threats.
• The Marquis of Northcloud, though absent, is established as a formidable and decisive figure through his solo hunt of a great Heavenly Being demon.

Significant themes

• Political instability and alliance-building: With the Human Emperor dead and the realm in chaos, the Imperial Court seeks to secure powerful allies.
• Power and responsibility: Qin offers the Origin Sect’s help, but confronting stronger threats requires adequate preparation and resources.
• The cost of advancement: Qin’s formation work improves the entire sect’s cultivation environment, but consumes vast wealth and strains his spiritual sense and health.
• Secrecy and uncertainty: The sect benefits from Qin’s work without knowing what he is doing, while rumors spread beyond its walls.

Character interactions

• Qin and Xiao discuss the marquis’s feat, then negotiate the Origin Sect’s possible role in dealing with sealed evil fiends. Xiao’s warning tempers Qin’s ambition with a clear assessment of the danger.
• After Xiao departs, Qin’s actions indirectly benefit the whole sect: the spiritual-energy vortex speeds everyone’s cultivation, even as its cause remains a mystery to them.